PLANS for a new play area in the Highercroft area of Blackburn are being revised after a mineshaft entrance was found.

Twin Valley Homes Ltd withdrew plans to landscape a piece of grassland in Lytham Road and install play equipment after experts discovered the historic remains beneath the development site.

Ray Smith, from Blackburn Local History Society, said: “There used to be a number of coal pits on the tops in Blackburn, but they were not deep-shafted, or on the same scale as the ones in Accrington or Burnley.

"I’ve seen a picture of one of the coal mines in Blackburn and it shows three tree stumps over an opening and a rope dangling down.”

He said it was likely the entrance found in Lytham Road was linked to four or five shafts at nearby Brandy House Brow and Old Bank Lane, known locally as ‘Bell Pits’.

A consultation was held last year with residents in nearby Cleveleys Road, Ansdell Terrace, Rossall Terrace, and Pilmuir Road, on the future of the site and it was decided a play area was needed for two to 13-year-olds.

Twin Valley hoped to install timber swings, an adventure mini-web climbing frame, boulders and grass mounds.

Now housing bosses say plans for a playground for the area are being revised and will be submitted to Blackburn with Darwen Council.

Coal mining began in Blackburn around 1569.

The site of these early pits was Blackburn Moor, which later became known as Coalpit Moor.